Surprisingly, almost no data exist in the scientific literature on herbicide residues in herbicide tolerant genetically modified (GM) plants – even after nearly 20 years on the market.

In research recently published by our laboratory (Bøhn et al. 2014) we collected soybean samples grown under three typical agricultural conditions: organic, GM, and conventional (but non-GM). The GM soybeans were resistant to the herbicide Roundup, whose active ingredient is glyphosate.

All the GM samples had Roundup residues – the others did not. To accommodate high levels of Roundup residues in GM soya, limits were raised 200-fold – with no scientific justification and ignoring growing evidence of toxicity. What Monsanto calls ‘extreme levels’ are now the norm – but only in GM crops.